[mccardey]

Does it have to be straw? We're in Sydney and straw isn't easy to come by. Would lawn-clippings do as well? What about shredded newspaper? We can get straw if we need to, but if we don't I'd rather use what we have. Which is, as I said, grass clippings or newspaper.

[pigsatlesrues]

Grass cutting would do fine provided they are dried out - hay in other words.  Wood shavings would be an alternative but I personally would not recommend newspaper - messy.

You might be able to locate a mill, and I am sure they would sell you wood shavings - that would be warm and easy to clean on the floor and for nest boxes.  Do you have any stable in your area - they would be able to tell you where you could get hay.

Good luck!

Kate 

[Rosemary]

We use shavings if we have too - problem is they take forever to rot down in the compost ehap. We use stuff called Hemcore - it's dried and shredded hemp. It's a byproduct of the papaer industry and is quite envorinmentally friendly to grow as it doesn't need much input of anything.

Don't know if you'll get it in Oz, though.